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Swine Flu, Global Warming and the Media

Swine Flu, Global Warming and the Media

Is the swine flu epidemic (not that many cases world wide) that is being reported as the second coming of the plague a manufactured story? Is man-caused global warming equally a manufactured problem by media reporting?

Are both a case of chicken little?

Last edited by subroc; 05-05-2009 at 06:56 AM.

subroc

Article [I.]
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article [II.]
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

There was a time in which news departments were considered to be part or the public service responsibility of every station and newspapers were expected to break even in good years and survive losses in the rest. Today news is simply another form of entertainment. Costs are kept down by relying on "news" provided for free in the form of press releases and news gathered at minimal cost from other publications and services. Critical thinking is too expensive to be cost effective. To boost ratings requires drama. This is either manufactured or "imported" by taking incidents that happened far away and reporting them as if they were happening next door. 24 hours news cycle stations have made the problem worse because of the amount of time they need to fill -- there simply isn't enough real news to keep things interesting. To feed the beast, something like the swine flu is heaven sent. The news can be gathered from the CDC web site with photos of mask wearing people draw from stock footage at almost no cost. Today's story in PA is that there are nine, get that, NINE, confirmed cases of swine flu in the state. Oh my God! And now the CDC is only updating its web site count of confirmed cases once every 24 hours because the number of cases is growing too fast to keep up with the count! Oh my God!

No, the story is not manufactured. It just isn't very important. But it does fill the news day at minimal cost.

Is the swine flu epidemic (not that many cases world wide) that is being reported as the second coming of the plague a manufactured story? Is man-caused global warming equally a manufactured problem by media reporting?

Are both a case of chicken little?

I have said it many times predictive models are nice television, but the reality is that they are always the worst case scenario. Tell people it is true enough times and it starts to be accepted as fact. Watch the Discovery channel and tell me how many shows you see were they use a model and everything works out good. Now tell me how many shows they have where the world as we know it ends. Does anyone want to watch one of those where nothing changes or do you think the ratings are better if GW kills us all and plants and animals take over the cities?
I may not go as far as saying it is a conspiracy, although I do lean that way with manmade GW. What I think the biggest problem is, is that the media is out of their league in most cases. Sensationalism sells. But I am not even sure that is done intentionally. I think the press picks up on a story and most of them are not smart enough to know how to understand the data they have found. Reading scientific journals and publications is not as clear cut as just reading the words and it is easy to misunderstand and or put a different meaning too. Read the swine flu thread on the main forum and you will see examples of this with most non scientific people. Panic, paranoia, and sensationalism, is driven by the unknowing and it often snowballs so that even knowing people get caught up in it sometimes which adds to the fears. Fear is the key. If you are afraid of something, the ice melting and oceans flooding, the new plague, what have you, you will turn to those who give you information and we are back to the beginning where the information you seek on something that scares you is given to you by people who are in no way experts and are generally incorrect in what they are telling you.

Watch the news and still almost ever report on the flu shows background footage of people wearing mask (not even in the USA, but they show it anyway) and doing technical looking lab stuff. Hear a report on GW and you will be told that “all scientist” are in agreement when in fact that is wrong. IF predictive modeling worked worth a crap people would be using it to win money on horse racing, poker, (yeah I know there are some systems but the casinos stay in business because you cannot predict with enough certainty to make it pay enough to worry them). Most meteorologists cannot even get tomorrows weather correct 12 hours in advance…..

Same thing was said about the "bird flu" West Nile and SARS........ Could it happen? Sure. Will it happen? WHo knows, but just like your favorite TV show ends putting you on the hook for what will happen next season, they are already setting up the fear factor for the next time....stay tuned many more days of 24 hour a day "news" coverage to be filled......

Last edited by badbullgator; 05-05-2009 at 07:47 AM.

Views and opinions expressed herein by Badbullgator do not necessarily represent the policies or position of RTF. RTF and all of it's subsidiaries can not be held liable for the off centered humor and politically incorrect comments of the author.
Corey Burke

You can't use the term "global warming" anymore as it turns people off according to ecoAmerica, a leftist environmental marketing and messaging firm. Rather, use terms like "our deteriorating atmosphere".

Or use "moving away from the dirty fuels of the past" for the term "carbon dioxide". And don't ever use the term "cap and trade". Use "cap and cash back".

The fascist eco-nuts are trying to find a way to convince us that global warming is a real issue even though we all know it isn't. But legislation is coming anyway and it will crush this country.

No the flu is real, it is just that the threat is exagerated......the other stuff al is involved in is more than just exagerated. Now I bet Al will spin GW and say it increases new viruses...........

Views and opinions expressed herein by Badbullgator do not necessarily represent the policies or position of RTF. RTF and all of it's subsidiaries can not be held liable for the off centered humor and politically incorrect comments of the author.
Corey Burke

The fascist eco-nuts are trying to find a way to convince us that global warming is a real issue even though we all know it isn't. But legislation is coming anyway and it will crush this country.

Inch by inch ... in so many different ways. In PA the state is mandating that utility companies get everyone to reduce consumption.

That doesn't just mean those curly lightbulbs. That won't be enough to accomplish the reductions. "Smart meters" can actually allow the electric company to shut off your electricity if you are being an "energy hog" by not reducing your consumption.

Since solar and wind alternatives are still very expensive to implement, this could mean more heating by wood and coal stoves. That won't help the air quality very much. My neighbor has one of those woodburning "huts" that heats his home and hot water. He burns any kind of wood he can get his hands on, including wood pallets & God knows what else. 24/7/365 that "hut" is spewing smoke. IF there was global warming, then the powers that be have overlooked the long-term consequences of their legislative mandates.

And IF there was global warming, whatever the US does to mitigate its CO2 emissions, they are like spitting in the ocean compared to what developing countries are doing in terms of increasing their emissions. Wonder what mainland China uses as its primary fuel? My bet is it's a lot dirtier than what we use.

G.Clinchy@gmail.com"Know in your heart that all things are possible. We couldn't conceive of a miracle if none ever happened." -Libby Fudim

​I don't use the PM feature, so just email me direct at the address shown above.

Is the swine flu epidemic (not that many cases world wide) that is being reported as the second coming of the plague a manufactured story? Is man-caused global warming equally a manufactured problem by media reporting?

Are both a case of chicken little?

Both appear to be the equivalent of Y2K on steroids. Remember that little gem of a money maker for some? I thought it was gonna be chaos and millions were going to die. I went to bed before midnight and woke up the next morning, totally missing the world coming to an end.

Views and opinions expressed herein by Badbullgator do not necessarily represent the policies or position of RTF. RTF and all of it's subsidiaries can not be held liable for the off centered humor and politically incorrect comments of the author.
Corey Burke